Beginnings
by shallow-seas-we-sail
Summary: Jane and Maura are married and expecting their first child. Just that. Cute and fluffy and a little funny. Really, there are so many Rizzles baby fics, but I want in. Ratings subject to change. Limited time offer. Set to expire in 9 months.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **So this is going to be a continuation of chapter 77 in the 'Ficlet Series'. Just short stories in an expanding Rizzles family. No real plot. Just fluff and fun and the ups and downs of bringing a little person into the world. I got a review asking to expand on Maura and Jane +1 and thought "yep, doing it."

Because sometimes art imitates life and it's as easy as that._  
_

* * *

Jane rubs her fingers together and over the paper in between them. She raises an eyebrow and stares at the avocado.

_16 weeks_.

Her eyes search around the produce section and land on a bushel of raspberries.

_8 weeks._

Grocery shopping shouldn't be this weird.

And Jane isn't sure what to do because Maura has sent her out on a full on health food round up, and everything on the list is just _baby baby baby_ in her head.

Plums at 12 weeks and dragon fruit at 18 weeks. Who ever thought comparing a little person to fruit was a good idea? Because her child isn't a fruit salad. It is a little fluttery beginnings of a person that makes her wife toss and turn at night, turning her into a human radiator to the point that Jane has to kick off the covers because she is sweating by proxy, and right now little baby so-n-so is at eight weeks and is a raspberry.

She will never look at the produce section the same again.

Food analogies for the next seven months are going to be horrible.

Jane scrunches her nose and begins to fill the basket with some 17 weeks oranges and 21 weeks cantaloupe. 25 weeks papaya and 10 weeks dates. She bags up seven garlic flavored dill pickles and at the register she grabs three Kit-Kats because apparently these two things go _amazingly_ well together. She has tasted it by surprise on Maura's lips after greeting her with a kiss by the car after work.

Jane's face falls flat. It's not okay and she has walked into it about four times this week.

When Jane arrives home, Maura is no where to be found but wretched sounds from upstairs let her know exactly where her wife is. The morning sickness hasn't been that bad, but when it comes, hell hath no fury like a Maura Isles coiled around a toilet bowl; clinging to it like it is the last thing tethering her to this worldly plain.

Jane sets the groceries on the counter and bounds up the steps two at a time. She knocks gently on the bathroom door and inches it open.

"You okay in here?" Jane peeks her head around the door and the sight of Maura sitting beside the toilet with her head resting against the wall and a look of utter defeat on her face makes a sad smile tug at Jane.

"Do you have any idea how horrible it is to throw up greek yogurt?" Maura's eyes stay closed. She licks her lips and brushes the back of her hand across her forehead.

Jane steps in the bathroom and sits on the edge of the bathtub.

"I'm sorry, sweetie." She throws her thumb over her shoulder; "I got a whole mess of fruit and-.."

Maura raises her hand and Jane shuts her mouth.

"I never want to see another strawberry in my life."

Jane smiles like she understands. '_I just bought every goddamn piece of fruit in Stop-n-Shop.'_

Looking down at her wife, Jane reaches out and tucks a sweaty strand of hair behind Maura's ear; "So whadda' want for dinner now?"

Maura's eyes open and Jane is hoping she isn't seeing the light and crossing over to the other side.

"A burger."

Jane sits up a little straighter and claps her hands together; it's a rare wife epiphany.

She can get behind that.


	2. Chapter 2

Jane narrows her eyes and pauses her game of Fruit Ninja. She was in the middle of a 14 weeks peach hyper combo blitz.

"What do you mean you lost it?"

She watches her wife pace back and forth in front of their bed; her thumb stuck firmly between her teeth and her hand on her hip.

"I mean I don't know where it's at."

Jane sets her phone down; "Okay, stop moving. You're making _me_ anxious. Where was the last place you had it?"

"The shower."

Jane smiles. There were no worries twenty minutes ago, but now... now it is full blown panic and she can see it inching its way into her wife's face.

_'Any why won't you stop pacing?!'_

"And you took it off before we got in, right?"

"Yes."

"So it's in the bathroom."

"No.. I mean yes.. I mean I don't know where I had it last."

Jane's head falls forward and her chin almost touches her chest. She has to reel back the_ 'really'_ perched behind her lips, because right now Maura is on edge; like an end of days edge, even if it is for the most ridiculous reason, Jane has gradually been learning when to keep her mouth shut.

_'No, remember what happened when you made a joke about Bass feeling unloved and she had cried over the saddest Tuesday taco's ever.'_

Pregnancy brain has turned her Google brained wife into fumbling jumble of nerves.

"It couldn't have gone far." Jane reassures.

"Can you look?" Maura stops pacing and looks at her wife hopefully.

Jane forces a smile and rolls out of bed with an eye roll directed at the wall; "Of course, babe."

Forty minutes passes and Jane has looked under the bathmats at least sixty-four times. She has opened every cabinet, checked every corner, dug through the laundry hamper and shook out every towel. Only when Maura requests that she snake the shower drain did she finally protest. No, drastic measures could be taken tomorrow.

"I'll find it. Don't worry, just try to get some sleep, k?" Jane crawls into bed and pats the space next to her. Defeated, Maura joins her and Jane spends the next twenty minutes consoling her wife who has fallen into a state of sniffles and tears.

The next morning Jane stumbles into the bathroom and in a groggy state begins her morning routines. Maura had finally been able to sleep last night with the assurance that Jane would love her no matter what and that their love would remain intact despite its missing symbolism.

Jane stares at herself in the mirror and dollops a squirt of toothpaste on her toothbrush and starts, but something doesn't seem right. It rattles around her in head, _literally_. She stomps her foot and lets out a frustrated "Really?!" over her toothbrush.

She brings her fingers to her lips and pulls out the foamy, minty diamond and platinum offender. She spits and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and rinses the ring before heading back into the bedroom where Maura is still sleeping.

And instead of waking her and parading her stellar detective skills, Jane slips back into bed and ever so gently slips the ring back onto her wife's hand like it never left.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Aww, hey, I'm so glad you are enjoying all this fluff! Thank you for the follows and reviews! I may be having too much fun writing this story (it is a welcome break from the _Copper and Wine_ angst at the moment) Reviews are lovely and you all are the best.

* * *

The phone on Jane's hip buzzes. Juggling her coffee and donut, she finally settles on shoving the glazed bear claw into her mouth instead of trying to balance it on the cups lid as she slides her phone from its holder. Her eyes widen and a muffled _'hmpfh'_ contains itself behind starch and sugar.

_Dr. Isles is in the bathroom and won't come out._

It is Susie and Jane can feel her heart begin to pound in her chest and a kick of adrenaline release and course through her. She is out the cafe and rounding the corner as another text buzzes in her hand. She meets the door to the stairwell hard with her shoulder, sending the donut in her mouth flying.

_She's crying._

Jane's feet barely register the steps as she hits the landing; skipping over the last three all together. She grabs the railing and propels herself down the next flight and her coffee is an afterthought somewhere between the second and third floor.

She arrives in the basement and storms through the lab towards Maura's office. Her body is buzzing and her mind is circling every worst possible case scenario. She pushes open the door in a rush and is met with a terrified looking Susie Chang standing in the center of Maura's office. She rushes passed Susie towards the private bathroom.

"How long has she been in there?" Jane looks back over her shoulder.

"Uh-..bout ten minutes." Susie stammers behind her and quickens her pace to catch up with the flustered detective; "I was bringing her the Gregory test results and I heard.." she effectively shuts her mouth when Jane raises her finger with a silent '_shhh'_ and presses her ear against the bathrooms door. She can hear her wife's muffled cries and sniffles and it breaks Jane's heart.

"Sweetie?" She gently she knocks on the door; "Can you let me in?"

Jane can hear Maura's cries grow louder and she is sure it is everything she has feared. She closes her eyes and presses her forehead against the door. Her hands come up and rest beside her head, and Jane thinks maybe if she tries hard enough she can have some sort of magic moment and make everything better like it was this morning. Her hands press harder into the door and maybe she could just osmosis her way and step through and gather Maura into her arms and take her home.

Jane lets out a small, quivering sigh and taps her fingers in unison against the door.

"Maura."

_Jane just kept staring at the giant condom covered wand in the nurses hand. She was pressing buttons on some kind of space age looking computer and Jane vaguely wondered if the room they were in was going to take off into orbit._

_She felt a small squeeze and looked down at her hand. Maura's seemed so small in her own and when she looked up at her wife she was greeted with a smile that stopped her heart._

_"Ready?" The nurse scooted and rolled up between Maura's stirupped legs and Jane stared at the wand in her hand again._

_"Is that entire thin-?" Her eyes grew wide._

_"No." Maura assured; "Just the tip."_

_Jane let out a snort and leaned down and nuzzled her nose against her wife's temple; "My favorite game."_

_Maura scoffed and gave her an affectionate swat on the arm, "Be serious."_

_Jane straightened in her chair and smiled; "Serious.' she nodded; "I'm serious."_

_They watched the monitor above them on the wall and to Jane it just looked like static; black and white and little dots until something that wasn't any of those things came into focus. It was little and fluttery and it reminded Jane of a bass drum the way it moved on the screen; reverberating and thumping away. The nurse turned a pressed a few more buttons._

_'Prepare for lift off.' Jane tightened her hand around Maura's._

_"The heartbeat looks good. 156 beats per minute." the nurse pressed another button and the machine whirred to life and printed out two little black and white beginnings of a person._

_'Houston, we have a heartbeat.'_

_"That's our baby." Maura whispered._

Jane can feel the break beginning to form in her heart because it's not fair. Four hours ago everything was perfect and now_ it's just not fair_.

The doorknob clicks and Jane takes a step back. When the door opens, she has to contain the want to rush and wrap her arms around her wife because Maura's eyes are red and puffy, only there is a small smile gracing her lips.

And Jane is confused.

"Is everything okay? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Jane takes a step forward and rests her hands on Maura's shoulders. Maura closes the distance and wraps her arms around her wife's waist. A sound is muffled into Jane's shoulder and the only thing Jane can put to it is laughter.

Reaching out, Jane pushes the door open completely and the bathroom is immaculate. She wraps her arms around Maura and squeezes her tightly before leaning back and cupping her wife's face.

"Is everything okay?"

Maura gives a small nod and meets Jane's eyes; "Yes. I was jus-.. just overwhelmed."

Relief like she has never felt floods Jane.

"No pains, no cramps, nothing like that?" Jane just needs the reassurance.

Maura shakes her head and Jane gathers her up in another tight hug.

"I was just thinking about earlier." Maura leans back and slips her hand into her lab coat and pulls out a black and white photo that she hands to Jane.

And Jane can't help but to smile and feel a little neurotic herself because Maura has overly sensitive hormones and she has every worry ever rattling around in her head.

Gently Jane slips the photo back into Maura's coat and gives her a soft kiss. Behind her she can hear Susie excuse herself with a mumbled 'congratulations'.

And Jane makes a mental note to stop worrying so much, but also to invest in seven months of Maura sized bubble wrap just in case.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Rating as been changed to 'T' for a some minor naughty Rizzles. And two updates in one day?! I shouldn't had taken that late afternoon nap.

* * *

Dark eyes peek around the shower curtain and are immediately sent away with a swat and splash of water.

"Oh, you're no fun." Jane deadpans and retreats, leaning against the bathroom counter.

The water shuts off and Jane turns, grabbing a towel from the rack and opens it in front of her as an offering as the shower curtain pulls back.

Jane blinks hard and her mind does this fuzzy thing. It turns to static and shuts down.

And really, nothing substantial has changed. Maura still looks like Maura. She hasn't begun to show, but something about her body is making it hard for Jane's eye's to focus on anything else. She radiates _something_. She is softer and fuller; like she stepped out of a Renaissance painting by the sea. Jane's fingers twitch against the soft fabric in her hands as Maura steps forward and takes the towel, wrapping it around herself.

A small smirk graces Maura's lips as she leans up on her toes and lets a wet kiss linger on Jane's cheek before turning and walking back towards the bedroom.

Jane watches her go and a single eyebrow raises because hips shouldn't move like that.

Shuffling in her socks across the bathroom floor, Jane catches up in the bedroom and takes a small leap; landing on the bed and bouncing up, seated.

Maura looks up from the dresser and over her shoulder at Jane, who is perched on the end of the bed silently studying her, with her legs neatly crossed.

"You know.." Maura turns her attention back to the dresser and pulls a drawer open; "I am actually quite a bit of fun." Turning, Maura walks over to Jane and lays out two very lacey, very barely there pieces of fabric beside her.

Jane looks down and then back up at Maura, who is standing in front of her. A low hum of approval resonates in the back of her throat. She watches water trail down her wife's shoulders and disappear between the valley of her breasts. Reaching out, Jane trails her fingers over warm skin; from knee to thigh until she reaches the edge of the towel and pulls it gently towards her. Maura takes a small step forward and rests her hands on Jane's shoulder who uncrosses her legs as her wife straddles her.

And something in her brain reboots and Jane feels like a fumbling teenager. She suddenly feels a pang of guilt. Maura has nothing to prove to her. Yes, they have been less intimate lately but Jane understands. Maura's body has been working in triple overtime; putting up housing and renovating for the next 9 months and the last thing she wants to do is make her feel pressured because she can't keep her eyes and hands to herself. She just wants to touch Maura constantly, but her comment in the bathroom wasn't to evoke a guilt trip.

Jane rests a hand on Maura's hip as her other trails up and moves along the towels edge across her wife's chest.

"You don't have to pull out the lingerie for me to think you're fun." Jane says in a low husk, but edges a serious tone. Her fingers run over the tucked in fabric between Maura's breasts.

"I know."

Jane stays silent for a moment as a war rages inside her to pull or not pull on the towel. Her eyes find Maura's, who simply smiles and makes the decision easy by removing it herself.

"It is common for women entering their second trimester to experience an increased sex drive."

Jane is halfway listening and nods her head as her wife's arms wrap around her neck and her hips roll forward slightly.

"Are you.." Jane clears her throat and looks up from Maura's chest; "Are you experiencing as increased sex drive?"

"I think lingerie will be making an appearance tomorrow."

Jane tries to remember what tomorrow is.

_'Sunday. Monday. Tomorrow is Monday. It's Monday.'_

"How are you gonna-.. tomorrow is work."

"So it is." Maura raises an eyebrow and smirks and Jane can see the proverbial road block being lifted along with her wife's skirt.

Office sex.

Jane's head fills with static again as Maura pulls her into a kiss that shuts rational thinking completely down. She wraps her arms fully around her wife and falls back onto the bed and if their kiss is any inclination of where the night is heading, Jane prepares for a notch on the headboard that will be written into history books long after they are gone; when future archeologists discover and try to decipher its ancient meaning. It will stand alongside the likes of Stonehenge and Mayan temples. The finest twenty first century mahogany etched with desperate, primal markings.


	5. Chapter 5

"That's not what I meant." Jane steadies her hands in front of herself and clinches them into fists. She leans back slightly preparing for whatever is next from the angry blonde standing across from her in the living room.

Maura scoffs and the exasperated head tilt she does tells Jane that she is losing this battle.

Actually, it is an outright loss.

"Then how did you mean it exactly?" Maura crosses her arms expectantly.

God, this sounded so much better in her head.

Jane purses her lips and begins to choose her words carefully. "What I meant was that _you.._" Jane points at her wife quickly and settles a bit into a wider stance, because if Maura's next move is to come charging at her the least she can do is brace herself.

"_You_ made the choice to have our baby and I think that is amazing. You are doing something amazing."

Jane puts her hands on her hips. _'Yeah. That sounded good.'_

Maura narrows her eyes; "You made a choice." she punctuates each word; "You. Made. A. Choice."

Jane grits her teeth. God, it does sound bad.

"Okay, look, what I meant was-.." and any beginning Jane had to her explanation is quickly cut off by a wave of her wife's hand.

"I didn't fall haphazardly into the decision to carry and have _our_ child. It is something I wanted to do because having a family with _you_ and having a baby with _you_ is something I want. Something we both want."

Jane nods and begins to open her mouth to mount a defense.

"I swear to god Jane, if the word 'choice' or any variation of it leaves your mouth I will kill you. hide your body and raise this child on my own."

Jane purses her lips and stays quiet. Quiet is good.

Maura snaps her fingers and turning on her heels, heads upstairs.

"Where are you going?"

"To make a choice."

Moments later Jane's pillow comes down the stairs and lands at her feet.

"Really?!"

Maura stands at the top of the steps and taps her foot incessantly; "Perhaps you should have _chose_ your words a bit more wisely."

"You can't just throw me out of our room." Jane says in a huff as she leans over and grabs her pillow.

"Oh. I can and the choice is yours to sleep on the couch or in the guest room."

Jane's eyes narrow and she shakes her head; "The guest room is the nursery."

"Then I guess your only choice is the couch." Maura disappears down the hall and Jane can hear the door shut behind her and lock.

Standing at the foot of the stairs Jane clutches her pillow to her chest and stomps her foot once, and then twice and then again and again until she turns around completely in a temper tantrum induced flourish. Burrowing her face in her pillow, Jane lets out a frustrated moan and walks blindly towards the couch. She propels herself over the back of it and collapses into soft cushions; pulling down the pillow from her face she hugs it tightly against her chest and the words of a dusty Templar Knight roll around in her head.

_'You chose poorly.'_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Thank you for all the follows and alerts and reviews and favorites! You guys are awesomesauce. Some angst ahead.

* * *

Jane has been sitting in the driveway for ten minutes with the tears she has been feigning off all day finally winning their battle. Her hands tighten and grind hard into the steering wheel as she fights to compose herself before walking inside. The last thing she wants to do is worry Maura. She had taken a personal day and spent the majority of it between the couch and bathroom fighting an epic bout of morning sickness, and with the little strength she did have, give Jane a play by play via text letting her know she was alive (but barely) thanks to toast. And Jane didn't want to have her dote or stay up all night worried and missing the little bit of precious sleep her body allows her all because she walked in all red eyed and bleary.

Jane fiercely wipes her eyes and takes a deep breath. It was work and she doesn't bring work home. But that's a lie now. It is all different and Jane knows it. Now it all has shifted, its weight is heavier and makes the air in her lungs constrict for the briefest moment. She shakes her head hoping to erase the image that has hung itself up and decided to make her brain a home.

A small bruised and rigid body with cloudy eyes thats last living sight was a stained and leaky ceiling.

Jane shakes her head again and swallows hard, pushing down the bile she can feel biting at the back of her throat and tries not to remember throwing up behind her cruiser or telling Frost her and Maura's good news as she braced her hands on her knees and readied herself for another sick wave that rushed up and out of her. And Frost had offered no congratulations or cigar. Instead he just rubbed small, reassuring circles on her back that they both knew she would have normally shrugged off, but it was calming and safe and everything Jane didn't know she needed as a small body bag rolled by her on a gurney.

Jane finally turns off the car and takes a steadying breath before opening in the door and pushing herself out. The house is dark when she steps inside, but she can see the flicker and the low sound of the tv in the living room and hopes that Maura is finally getting the rest she needs. She sets down her keys, badge and gun on the island and shrugs off her blazer and lets it halfway hang off the chair as she kicks off her boots. She is too exhausted to walk the extra five feet back to the entry way closet to hang it because really all she wants is to find Maura and feel better.

Making her way to the couch she can see a messy head of hair peeking out from under the covers she has surrounded herself with. The coffee table is a mess of crumbs and toasted bread crust and Jane can't help but smile because no one else in the world knows but her how much her wife hates crust. No one knows how Jane happily cuts it off when she makes them her famous grilled cheese or how Maura's eyes light up when she goes the extra mile and divides it into fourth's; giving her wife a little piece of her own childhood in four mini sandwiches because that's what her ma always did for her.

Pulling back the covers, Jane presses a light kiss to her wife's cheek and feels her stir.

"Can I join?"

Maura gives her a half sleepy smile and scoots forward so that Jane can lay behind her. She wraps her arms around her wife and presses her body flush against the smaller one in front of her and fits just right. She lets a kiss linger at the soft spot behind Maura's ear and then nuzzles her nose into her neck and breathes her in. It is perfect and safe and home and Jane can feel the tears beginning to sting her eyes again. Her hand slips under Maura's t-shirt and she rests her palm flat against her stomach and she works her best telepathy to let their baby know nothing will ever happen to them like what happened in that Charlestown project apartment.

A sleepy hand rests on top of hers as Jane's fingers begin to move in small, abstract patterns across her wife's stomach.

"How was work?" a groggy voice asks.

Jane shakes her head and hopes to find her voice and that it doesn't crack.

"I don't want to talk about work." she whispers.

"Bad day?"

Jane can only nod and she feels the body in front of hers shift. Maura pulls her arm fully around her and snuggles into their embrace tightly and it lets Jane know that she may not be able to keep everything _out there_ safe, but right here always will be.

"I just want to be here." Jane says into messy, honey hair.

A hum of approval floats up from in front of her and Maura's fingers trail down her forearm before giving her a reassuring squeeze.

"I've got you."


	7. Chapter 7

"It is quite common for women to have in the second stage of labor."

Jane becomes very focused on the passing yellow lines on the road. Anything to get the visual out of her head. But it's no use, and she crosses her legs as her wife rambles on about vaginal tearing and ripping and Jane can't stop picturing a car crash of things that happen to parts that become used well beyond their means.

This is worse then the plug incident that left Jane sitting on her hands for days after Maura explained that after the 8th week (or _blueberry_ period as Jane had put it) that the woman's cervix creates a mucus plug that stays in place up until their water breaks. Jane had just sat in stunned silence and tried not to think about their sex life being brought to a screeching halt because she pulled the stopper loose.

Jane adjusts herself in her seat and fights the urge to sit on her hands again. A frown tugs at the corner of her lips and she decides that pregnancy is scary and horrifying. Fun, sexy parts will never be the same because of a one person, baby car pile up in the tunnel and it's all not okay. And her face falls flat because baby is creating a bypass. Things will change and baby has no concern for zoning permits and noise ordinances. Jane can feel her body tense and maybe she really is starting to get sympathy pain because she sure as hell knows she doesn't want an episiotomy.

"We will discuss the options with the doctor at our next appointment. Perhaps it is something we should add to the birthing plan just in case." They stop at a red light and Jane can see Maura look at her expectantly.

"Jane?"

She snaps out of the horror movie playing in her head and looks at her wife; "Hmmyeah?"

"What do you think of that?"

"Oh.. well.. yeah. If you wanna. We can add butt cut to the plan."

The light turns green and Maura doesn't move. Jane's eyes glance around the car and a horn blares from behind them.

"What did you say?"

Jane swallows thickly; "The light is green."

Maura only shakes her head and her eyes stay fixed on Jane. Her eyebrows have slowly started to descend to an angle and have begun pointing directly to her mouth and Jane knows this isn't going to end well for her and the horn going off behind them is like deaths overture. Jane accepts her fate is sealed and she will die in the front seat of this Prius.

"How far are we from home?"

"Twelve blocks." Maura doesn't blink.

Jane considers her options for a moment and then gives a quick, downward nod as she opens the door.

"I'll walk."


	8. Chapter 8

"But what if I'm horrible at it?"

"You won't be."

"You're supposed to say that."

Frost shakes his head; "Why? Cause I'm your partner?" a fry disappears into his mouth; "I wouldn't blow smoke up your ass. You're going to be amazing."

Jane narrows her eyes and sets down her burger on her lap. She picks up the binoculars from the center console and focuses on the building up the street. Her fingers flex in their grip; she needs a chase and an arrest.

Ideally she needs a chase and _needs_ it to end with a hard tackle. Her pent up anxiety needs to go somewhere. It is bubbling near the surface and her shoulder square into someones back seems like a good as place as any to put it.

"But what if I am?" She sets back down the binoculars quickly and looks at Frost. Her eyes grow a little wider and a little more unsure.

Her partner stops mid chew and looks at Jane. Frost gives her a sweet, fry filled smile; "Jane, you won't be."

"But I'm kind of a bitch."

"You're confident." he shrugs.

"I'm snarky, sarcastic and swear like a sailor."

"Nah, you're witty and comical. Babies love to laugh. They are laughing, pooping machines. You'll rein back the _shit's_ and _fuck's_." he waves his hand in a small flourish and picks up the binoculars.

"I carry a gun and am married to my job."

"You're a protective mama bear and you're married to Maura." Frost says matter-of-factly as he focuses on the building.

Jane sighs and plays with a greasy corner of her burgers wrapper. She lets her head fall back against her seat and she squeezes her eyes shut; "Oh god, what if my kid's first word is _fuck?_"

Frost snorts a small chuckle and reaches blindly for a fry; "I'm sure it will be something like _spinalmidacondriafunglitus_."

Some of her anxiety dissipates with a laugh and Jane guides her partner's hand to the bag at his ankles.

"That isn't even a word."

"Maura is having a baby. Your kids first word will be something like that." he says before shoveling more fries into his mouth.

Jane tilts her head to one side with a thoughtful look; "True."

Frost monitors the building intently and Jane stays lost her thoughts. Parenthood is scarier than any bust or arrest. The idea of it, the conception of it is frightening. It's an array of excitement, anxiety and every possible unknown. And Jane isn't sure how to approach it. She pokes and prods at the idea, trying to find a way to understand the abstract parts of it, but when she really breaks it down, the reality is she is going to be one half of a whole in charge of a little life.

And the idea of that scares her. That she is in charge in this little person. This little blank slate that will absorb, take in and learn all that they are, will be, in part from her.

Jane wrings her hands together and thinks of TJ. She remembers how she held him for the first time after finding him abandoned on the front step of Maura's house and how she had watched Maura hold him and something in her shifted. Maura would tell her later that it was oxytocin, but Jane knew _that_ was what she wanted. The image of Maura with TJ in her arms seared itself in her memory and stayed with her through dinner and couch dates, an engagement and a wedding. A small smile tugs at Jane's lips, because why worry?

Because she has Maura and so will their child and any major fuck up on Jane's part will quickly be remedied by her Mensa card carrying wife.

An excited slap to her shoulder brings Jane back from her thoughts.

"Target is on the move."

Jane throws her burger out the window as Frost reaches into the back seat and retrieves their vests.

And something surges through her with an intensity that she hasn't felt for some time; adrenaline. As Jane slips the vest over her head and pulls the straps, she can feel the tremble in her hands and she knows soon she won't be coming home just to Maura, but to someone else that is already making her want to step less in front of bullets even though they haven't set a cute little foot in the world yet.

"You ready?" Frost's hand flexes towards the door handle.

Jane steadies herself and grips the steering wheel before opening her door.

"I'm gonna knock that fucker off his feet."

Frost lets out a laugh as he pulls his weapon. His face falls flat as he closes the door and looks at Jane over the hood of the car and in a concerned tone reminds her.

"Language, Jane."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** i submitted this over on tumblr as part of the Rizzles Fan Fic Challenge. This week's challenge was _Milestones. _So ya know, it's a choose your own adventure milestone here. A new exciting week of pregnancy and other things!

* * *

Jane is sure the armrest is verging on breaking her ribs. Maybe if she is lucky it will puncture a lung and her doctor wife will notice then that she is not, in fact, part of the couch.

Maura wiggles and adjusts herself for the ten millionth time against her side and Jane grits her teeth.

"Do you want me to move or..?"

Maura tilts her head up and gives Jane a concerned look.

"No, no. I'm sorry. I'm just uncomfortable is all."

A small alarm goes off in Jane's head; "Uncomfortable how?" she asks slowly.

Maura shrugs and Jane doesn't like the feeling that it leaves her with. She wedges her arm out between her wife and her side and brings it over Maura's shoulder. Jane's fingers brush over the small bump beginning to show and she can feel her wife stiffen at the contact.

A bigger alarm sounds and Jane purses her lips; "Can I get you anything?"

Maura shakes her head and absently flips through channels. Jane adjusts herself; squeezing into the corner of the couch so her wife can lean back fully into the crook of her arm. Maura leans back and lets out a pained hiss of air.

Jane looks down at he wife. Her eyes close for a moment as she tries to regulate her breathing and it makes Jane more and more nervous and wishing for that goddamn bubble wrap.

"You're staring at me." Maura says as she pushes herself up. Her back presses fully into Jane's side and she takes a scarred hand into her own, absently tracing her fingers.

Jane blinks hard at a blonde head; "Because something is wrong."

Maura peeks over her shoulder and gives Jane a sweet smile before looking back at the TV; "I appreciate your concern, but it's nothing. Just some stomach discomfort."

Jane's hand flexes in her wife's; "Discomfort like what? Like cramps? You can't even sit up all the way. Is the baby hurting? You're hurting. That means that the baby can be and I'm calling the doctor."

Jane begins to push herself up and Maura sends her arm out, barring any further movement.

"I am a doctor."

Jane rolls her eyes and lets out a small, exasperated sigh; "And a horrible patient."

"That's how the saying goes." Maura says through a forced smile as she sits up straight and turns beside Jane. A flash of pain moves over her face and it makes Jane's stomach drop.

"Sweetie, you're hurting. Please, _please _let me do someth-.."

Maura sighs; "If you want to help, get me a yogurt with two teaspoons of flaxseed and a large glass of water with two tablespoons of Miralax."

Jane stares at her wife.

_'Oh.'_

She blinks.

_'OOOHHH.'_

Jane bites her lip at the laugh threatening to spill over; "Doctor Isles has to poop."

Maura rolls her eyes; "I would love if that were the case, but that's the problem. It has been for almost four days."

A snort of laughter escapes Jane causing her wife to cut her eyes at her. She waves it off quickly, and her face sobers.

"I'll get you a flaxseed and Miralax cocktail. This is serious."

Maura's face breaks into a smile and she lets out a small laugh; "It is serious."

Jane nods her head exuberantly; "No shit."

A firm slap on the arm propels Jane up and off the couch and towards the kitchen.

* * *

Jane pulls the covers over her. Reaching over on her nightstand she grabs '_What to Expect When You're Expecting'_ and opens to a dog-eared page.

"We are in week 15. Says here constipation is common during the second trimester." she glances up from the book at Maura. A dark eyebrow raises as she watches her wife slip her silk nightgown over her head and pull back the covers.

"Don't look at me like that. I feel far from sexy right now and I don't want to talk about bowel movements."

Jane sits down the book in her lap; "_Pfft_, you wanted to talk about mine." she pokes her stomach and the fading scar there.

Maura tilts her head and raises an eyebrow, but her face falls flat. Her hand pushes down into the mattress as she braces herself against the bed and Jane sits up. She is almost sure she may have to catch her.

"Are you o-.."

But Maura is already making a hasty retreat and disappearing around the corner, a door slamming behind her.

.."kay."


End file.
